Coming Home

A morning flight to Beijing, then a flight home with a stop in Chicago.

Fifteen hours, 25 minutes on the airplanes and a one hour, 21 minute layover in Chicago - 16 3/4 hours from Beijing to Boston.  Then home to sleep.

Guangzhou and the Safari Park

Min Min is in Guangzhou.  The US embassy is still located in the city and everyone who adopts must go through there before returning to the US.

She is staying at the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island, overlooking the Pearl River.  Shamian Island is a true island separated from the mainland by a canal.  Connie, Min Min and I stayed at this storied hotel when we went to China in 2002.  So well known, an adoption story book was written about it.  The island is also the location of the medical center where Min Min had her final checkup before her adoption papers were signed.

the White Swan Hotel

Along the Pearl River

the waterfall in the Main Lobby

History -

Shamian Island was an important port for Guangzhou's foreign trade from the Song to the Qing Dynasty. From the 18th to the mid 19th century, the foreigners lived and did business in a row of houses known as the Thirteen Factories, near the present Shamian, which was then an anchorage for thousands of boat people. Shamian became a strategic point for city defense during the Opium Wars period.  In 1859, the territory was divided in two concessions given to France and the United Kingdom (of which 4/5 belonged to the British and 1/5 to the French). It was connected to the mainland by two bridges, which were closed at 10pm as a security measure.  The English bridge to the north was guarded by Sikhs, and the French bridge to the east was guarded by Annamite French troops.

Trading companies from Britain, the United States, France, Holland, Italy, Germany, Portugal, and Japan built stone mansions along the waterfront.  The construction on the island was characterized by climate-adapted but Western-plan detached houses with hipped roofs and large verandahs.  The island was the scene of fighting during the "June 23 incident" in 1925.  After 1949, the mansions of Shamian became government offices or apartment houses and the churches were turned into factories.

Min Min plans to go to the Panyu Safari Park outside of Guangzhou.

Bruce writes:
I came across a wonderful blog post about the Panyu (Xianjiang) Safari Park and Zoo:

http://research-china.blogspot.com/2005/09/my-girl-and-her-cub.html

I hope Min Min has a similar experience.

High SpeedTrain

Min Min was driven from Qidong to Hengyang, the Qidong County administrative city.  She is taking a high speed train - 220 miles per hour - to Guangzhou.  It should take about one and a half hours.

Finding Place

There is a chance Min Min may go to her "finding place", the bridge where she was placed at one day old, at Yupo Village.

Yupo Village - Main Street

Yupo Village - Bridge 1

Yupo Village - Bridge 2

Qidong and the Orphanage

Today is another BIG day . . .   .

Min Min is taking a 4-1/2 hour drive to Qidong and will spend the night there.

Qidong Xiangjiang Hotel

  
She will, hopefully, get a chance to tour her orphanage.  There are plans for her to meet the old and the new Directors of the orphanage - lunch with one and supper with the other.  She is taking picture books of her life in the US as gifts.


Qidong Social Welfare Institute when Min Min was there . . .  .

Min Min in the second pink walker - (2002 ?)

         

And now . . .  .

Qidong SWI new playground

 

There are more than one "Qidong" in China.  This one is in southern China, in Hunan Province.

Hunan Province

Tea

And for those of you who don't drink coffee . . .

Tea Plant Terraces in Sichuan

Min Min and a Friend

Really ?

More about the Pandas

On April 14, I saw the pandas. They were so adorable. I got to hold one it was so much fun!  The panda was trying to lick me. The panda that I held was named Er Xie. She was very big. We also saw the red pandas. I liked the black and white pandas the most. When I saw the pandas they were happily munching on bamboo. We went to a brocade store too. It was so amazing. They said if  you work eight  hours a day you only make 6-7 centimeters a day. We also went to Sichuan Opera house. We got to see people change their masks and CLOTHES! We also saw the shadow puppet show. He made all these cool animals like... rabbit, birds, owl, dog, and a galloping horse. It was so amazing.

We did some more things.

NOTE:
'Changing Faces'
One of the most fascinating, artistic charms of Sichuan Opera is "face-changing", which is achieved by quickly tearing off, rubbing, or blowing away a mask to reveal another.
 The performer prepares many special masks in advance made of gauze and elastic materials, such as sheep embryo membranes and rubber. After the masks are painted with different designs and assembled with a special transparent thread, they are pasted onto the performer's face.
The special masks for "changing faces" must be made to fit the performer's face to ensure that they are pasted as close as possible to the skin. Previously, the masks were discarded after a performance, but today they can be recycled with some minor repairs.

Embroidery

Going to the Hunan Embroidery Museum.



Attached to it, there is the factory where girls and ladies do the stitching for the items that are sold in the museum shop. In this factory there is a large room where there are several rows of long tables with workers busy stitching various images. A supervisor walks around the room being sure that each "artist" is using exactly the right color of thread.  From three or four feet away, you can't tell if a finished piece is an original photo or is silk.

There is a banner hanging across the back of the room which says “ Fashion a state stitch work in Full pashion to Honour the country ” (sic) in English with Chinese characters above.

Embroidery Room

Copying a Photo/Painting

Then to the Place of Children (Children's Activity Center?).


Also a drive by the Hunan Adoption Center.

Flying to Changsha

Min Min is off to the provincial capital of Hunan - Changsha.  It has a population of over 6 million.
It is where Mao Zedong converted to communism.

She's staying at the 51 story, 5-star Dolton Hotel.

Leshan Giant Buddha

The Giant Buddha (Da Fo) was carved out of a hillside in the 8th century and looks down on the confluence of three rivers: the Dadu River, the Min River and the Qingyi River.  It took 90 years to carve.

Entrance Gate

乐山
Min Min is off to Leshan, in Sichuan Provence.  She is going by boat to see a giant Buddha statue which is carved into a mountains It is the largest stone Buddhist carving in the world.

Note the size of the people!

On the Great Wall of China

Beginning the climb

Coming down with energy to spare

Video tour of the Great Wall:

http://www.thebeijingguide.com/great_wall_of_china/index.html

NOTE:

Place your cursor on the moving images and click the red box when you want to move to a new location.

Pandas !!!

Pandas in the morning, then the Wenshu Monastery in the afternoon and a cup of tea at the local park.

 

Panda Sculpture at the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding

Video:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=1390181n

Good web page:
http://www.gadling.com/2008/01/31/a-behind-the-scenes-tour-of-wolong-panda-reserve/

Info on the Giant Pandas:
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/sichuan/chengdu/panda-breeding-and-research-center.htm

Panda Cam at Wolong:
http://www.oiccam.com/webcams/index.html?/panda/

Wolong Panda Reserve is a comprehensive state natural reserve of 494,200 acres. Begun in 1963, Wolong National Natural Reserve is the earliest, largest and best-known panda reserve in China. It was placed on UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve Network in 1980.

Sixty-seven captive pandas are among 150 pandas in Wolong Panda Reserve managed by the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. The Center was founded in 1980 with assistance from World Wildlife Fund.

Reputed as a  bio-gene bank both at home and abroad, Wolong National Natural Reserve is home not only to the giant pandas but also to rare and endangered animals such as red panda, golden monkey, white-lipped deer, gnu (wildebeest) and precious plants like yew and beech.






Wenshu Monastery is the best-preserved Buddhist temple in Chengdu.

Initially built in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Wenshu Monastery was once called Xinxiang Temple. In 1681, during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Cidu, an accomplished Buddhist monk, came to the monastery. He built a simple hut between two trees and for several years lived an ascetic life there. Legend has it when Cidu was being cremated; the statue of Wensu (Bodhisattva Manjusri in Sanskrit) appeared in the flames, staying for a long time. So people regarded Cidu as the reincarnation of the Bodhisattva Manjusri. Thereafter, Xinxiang Temple became Wenshu Monastery.

Cultural relics are the highlights of Wenshu Monastery. Since the Tang and Song dynasties, over 500 pieces of painting and calligraphy by celebrities have been stored here. In the Sutra-Preservation Pavilion, many famous handwriting exhibits, paintings, and artwork are restored. These precious works of art were created by renowned Chinese painters and calligraphers, including Zhang Daqian, Zheng Banqiao, and Feng Zikai. Of all the precious relics, a piece of the broken skull of Xuan Zhang, a renowned monk of the Tang Dynasty, is the rarest. Another treasure is a delicate jade Buddha statue brought from Burma to China in 1922 by Xing Lin, a Buddhist monk who walked the whole distance. In addition, the monastery houses some 300 Buddha statues of various materials including iron, bronze, stone, wood, and jade, some gloriously painted.

In addition to its cultural relics, Wenshu Monastery is famous for its exquisite garden and solemn halls. Tourists and locals can enjoy tea in the Tea House while listening to music by folk artists.